[R&F] Over-reliance on spies?

[LMT]

I've recently been playing on emperor exclusively (standard size map and speed) and I've been finding that in order to keep up in science and to keep my treasury filled, I need to rely on spies. I also need to disable spaceports in other civs in order to win.

I usually play peacefully, but will take a few cities early on from a neighbor. I try to settle as many cities as possible. So I have two questions...

1) Is heavily relying on espionage a typical (and possibly necessary) strategy on higher difficulties?

2) Can a spy ultimately steal so many tech boosts for any one technology that you eventually get the tech without having to actually research it?

 

[Victoria]

1. No but certain strategies like OCC do
2. Yes
The main strategy used is not spies but a combination of a lot of campus and getting envoys to science CS. People used to spam commercial hubs but spamming more campi is better.
The fastest science rush is now with the theatres to globalisation which gives a good science boost

 

[LMT]

1. No but certain strategies like OCC do
2. Yes
The main strategy used is not spies but a combination of a lot of campus and getting envoys to science CS. People used to spam commercial hubs but spamming more campi is better.
The fastest science rush is now with the theatres to globalisation which gives a good science boost

Thanks, this helps. I do tend to spam comm hubs more so than campuses. For some reason, I'm always paranoid about running low on funds.

 

[Victoria]

Thanks, this helps. I do tend to spam comm hubs more so than campuses. For some reason, I'm always paranoid about running low on funds.

Chopping a crab or some bronze if you run low on funds can sort you out.. there is quite a few ways to get funds.
I sell a lot of luxuries, that helps. Also a good harbour city with Reyna will earn as much as many trade routes. Use a harbour triangle with the commercial hub at a river mouth, grow the city and Reyna adjacency and pop promotions will mean you will be just fine.
Efficient war players are selling everything and looting ground and often have very few trade routes, it’s amazing how few you can survive with.

 

[Archon_Wing]

Spies are very good but hardly mandatory on Emperor. Sometimes I don't even build them until the last 2 dozen turns and there was even a game where I accidentally built the terrible Foreign Ministry lately.

The thing to remember is that the AI is not a threat. It cannot win before t300, if even, and even if it could, spies can help keep them tied down. As a result, regardless of how bad I play, or how bad I started, or even if I'm doing an OCC, I will always win culture (they seem kinda bad at that now) so aiming for early culture can be very effective.

If the AI has a tech edge on you, it does not matter because 2 planes and a submarine will take out most of their forces. So if it looks like they entered the atomic era or something, there's no need to worry.

Run projects and take advantage of Magnus to chop out infrastructure. Get Pingala's 100% great person boost. Even if you can't match the AI in raw science, the boosts will help a lot (especially if you can snag oracle). Since I usually go Culture, I will usually hire Reyna and get that 100% tourism boost in a city.

Also, after the mid-game, I'd suggest switching to external trade routes to get more gold. I usually don't build many commercial hubs. Usually just add them if I need gold. But I run on an average of like 6-8 trade routes. Requiring a market really hurt them I think. Equipping the gold from envoys card is typically good enough. IMO you should really only focus on campuses. Every other district, you need a good reason to build. Industrial Zones I would say are a mistake in 90% of cases when you're not Germany or Netherlands, and neighborhoods, probably 99%.

Finally, pay attention to the Eurekas, and you may only want to put off a tech so you can grab a eureka, such as timing stirrups and feudalism or enlightenment and feudalism.